Today we got some exciting news that will help us celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2012. Mr. Rod Bruinooge, MP for Winnipeg South, announced that the Government of Canada, through the Canada Interactive Fund, will provide us with funding of $78,366 over two years for the creation of a dedicated, interactive centenary website which will be linked to this current site.

The new site will contain an illustrated timeline tracing the history of the WAG, telling the Gallery’s story—the people who made it such a success over the past century, how we slowly built up our 24,000 piece collection. This history will be enhanced by video and audio clips in which you will meet key former and current board members as they talk about the WAG.

The WAG has the largest collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world, and the legacy of our centennial year will be a new Inuit Art Centre to be built next door on the site of our current Studio Programs building. That means there will also be a section of the new site devoted just to the history and growth of our Inuit art collection and it will told in both English and Inuktituk.

This will be an interactive site with games designed to engage users of all ages in art and creativity. We are particularly looking forward to inviting people from all over the country to celebrate with us by posting their stories and memories of the WAG.

The new centenary site should go live in early 2012 and we’ll keep you up-to-date as it progresses.